Display rail and hook



Oct. 17, 1933. E. w. CHRISTY DISPLAY RAIL AND HOOK File d Feb. 21, 1931 Jwomtw Elmer M Christ] in producing a strongsupport for articlesof va -l.

Patented Oct. 17 1933 v LE-133cm I PPAY A JM FQ K". a Elmer. w. .Ghristy, cinemas, Ohio I fflpplicationFebruai-y21,193i, serialndsi'zsssf' rious sizesand weights;-

These and other-objects are attained by'the means described herein and disclosed in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 a front elevational view of a rail and hook of the invention. Fig. 2 is a view on line 2-2 of. Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig; 2 but: showin the abutment member depressed and thehook swung into position for removal from therail.

f form of the hook. i t Fig. .6 is a view on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

.Fig. 4 is a perspectiveview of a modified form of the hook of thelinvention. y i 3 'Fig. 5 is a front elevation view of a, preferred Fig. .7 shows in perspective the spring and abutment member of the device of Fig. 5. v Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a bent wire hoo member usable with the rail stripshown, in Figs. 1,2and3. The present invention provides. a means for use in hanging various objects 'such as wall maps either inroll cases or.,on.rods, anyqkind'of bulletin board or other objectgprovided with oneor more eyelets or grommetsj'andalso' capable, in its preferred forms of suspending single. sheets, charts, cards; pictures; etc. which havev no eye,- lets or suspending means. The alternative form of Fig. 8 is capable of employment with thesimple rail of the invention in pantries, on doors, etc., for hangingutensils'of various kinds.

The rail or molding of the invention is inex pensively formed from flat strip metal 10 alongthe top of -which'is formed an integral forwardly extending U-shaped channel rllhavingits top arm 12 connectedato the strip 10; and-its: lower arm disposed in horizontal position with its end 14 terminating at a distance from the "forward face of strip 10 to admit the thickness Of-rthE material of which the hook'member is formed.

The strip 10. preferably has a longitudinally extending slight bendor .break 15 closeto-lits bottom edge so that a sp'ace is formed behind the thin metal for accommodating the slightly countersunk cups 16 which are formed about the screwholes -17" provided at intervals for attaching the rail or molding to the sidewall of a room or along the top of a class room blackboard. The strip 10 may be quite thin since the formation o f the l J-sliaped member "11 at the top Pa t reat. ri i i ren st h to t w r heavier; objects which. may be suspendedg tlierefrom. In additionto thisthe-fbreak 15 further strengthens the'strip. A v g- Thehook member in its variousforms consists essentially of a body which is suspended fromthe top or inner face of} arm 113 by a lug-such asflt}, .while the body 19 itself rests a'gainst the face of the body 10 of the molding strip or rail. #4 suit able hook finger 2 0 completes the deyice insofar as it maybe inserted or removedlathanygpoint along the rail, and that it will sustain any -object within reasonable limits of, weight suspended therefrom. In Figs. 2, 4, the hook body and :lug is formed ofsheet metal. In liig. 8 the parts are formedfrom alength of wire or rod stock. i

In orderto remove the. hook member from the rail, it isnecessary to tilt thebody l9 forwardly (as shown in Fig.- 3 sufliciently-to-withdraw lug 18 downwardly through the space between-strip body 10 andthe edgeofarni l3. When manipulating a fairly rigid-objectat-{arms length with a ;view to hanging or removing saidpbi ect from one or a pair of the hooks theremay be a tendency to. disturb the position of the hooks sunlciently to separate th'em from the-rail if s ome meansis not provided to guard against such'aeci dent. In the device of Fig. 8 this is partially. provvidedfor in that thelug 18 consists of'twospaced and somewhat resilient arms which bind within the U-shaped channel. In Figs. 2 and 4 a memberv of pars 1. i secured, I by spot1 welding or otherwise, onto the body 19 and hasan abutment finger-.21, the end i of which is normally positioned closely adjacent and-spaced belowthe lug, 18. By manually depressing the finger 2 1, "as;with the'thumlrthe lug 18 may be entered and the hook member moved G into operative position on the,ra.il.- Q Release of the of that member as "shown in Fig. 2 from which it cannot again be.,.displaced. without manually depressing the finger 21. The hook, while incagpable 1- of -;a,ecidental separation from-the rail, may nevertheless he slid along the rail to any desired jpoint. 1 -1 .1

v It is tobe-notedthat fin-orderto attain the position shownin; Fig. lithe abutment finger must first be manually depressed towardfthe i9 so that lug. 18 can be hookedinto vorfron'i the where it is spot welded to the body 19. The de-- pending portion of thebody is slittedto provide for the hookflnger 20 and the depending legs 24 spring abutment finger- 21 then positionsthe end interion of the channel through the restricted zlongitudinallopening, 22 between the end .14 of the arm 13. and the body 10 of therail or molding. In the embodiment shown in Fig. '4' the bodyof .thels'pring-abutment finger 21 hasan S-bendat. -23

' scope of theappended claims. 1

each have a spring finger 25 pressing on the face thereof. The fingers 25 result from the slotting of the lower part of the spring body from the bottom up through the S-bend. This gives the upper part a firm seat on the hook finger 20 at a point 26 spaced forwardly of the body 19 and ofbo'dyl9 and has 'a' shoulder 28 where itjoins body 19. This shoulder is transversely perforated I to receive a pivot pin 29 whichalso passes through aligned perforations 30 in the armsof achann'el shaped abutment finger whichis formed of sheet metal and straddles the shoulder portion 28 of hook 27.1 The rear portion of member 31 is cut out to providethe straddle lugs 32 and 33. The lug 33 has an extended edge 34' which limits the outward movement of'member' 31 to the position, shown in 6. -Lug32 may be cut off below the perforation 30. The upper portion of the abutment finger is tapered toward the rear portion 31 to permitthe finger to be rocked on its pivot' toward the body 19, thereby removingthe end-35 from its position close to the outer end of lug .18 and permitting the device to be hooked into and removed from the moldingr'ail in the manner shown in- Fig. 3. A-spring indicated'generally as 36 is formed of a'l'e'ngth of spring wire or the like by first forming a yoke bend 37 which passes through hole 280 in shoulder 28 of the hook finger 2'1, and then bending the arms 38 at 39 so that they straddle saidshoulder, pass under pin 29 and exert their spring tension against the rear inner face of the abutment finger. The sides 32 and 33 confine and conceal the spring arms. g

The depending leg or member'40 has a suitabl secured spring' finger or clip 411 secured thereto "so that a'thinlight weight sheet or card may be inserted between them. 1

It will be understoodthat modifications of the hook members and molding rail shown may be made within the spirit of this invention and the What is claimed is; e I I 1. In a device of the class described the combination with a substantially horizontal wall rail having an integralchannel, opening toward the rail and at the bottom of the channel, of a hook member for removable insertion into the channel at any point along said opening and means on said member normally precluding separation of the hook member and rail, said means being yieldably movable to an inoperative posithan under manually applied pressure.

2. Ina hook member for usewith a display'rail having a rearwardly and downwardly opening.

supporting channel, the hook comprising a body having a forwardly extending lug for entry' through'the opening in the supportingchannel and means presenting a normally rigid abutment upon the outer face of said channel to preclude accidental separation of the hook member from the rail, said abutment means being movable by manual force thereon to an inoperative position.

I 3. In a hook member of the class described, a

body, a hook finger on said body, a forwardly extending lug at the top of the hook for suspending the body upon a suitable rearwardly extending ledge of a supporting rail and an abutment member on said body rigidly opposing movement of said body in a direction tending to separate said body from the supporting rail.

4.-In a hook member of the class described the'combination of a hook body, a lug extend- ,ingforwarcfly from the top of the body and. an

abutment finger presenting an end beneath and substantially at right angles to the end of the 5. In a display rail and hook-the combination of a rail strip for wall mounting, a restricted U-shaped channel integral with the top of said strip and-providing a continuous entry-slot f at the bottom of the channel along the forward face -of the strip, a hook member comprising a body and a forwardly extending lug for entry through the slot into the channel whereby to support the body and yieldable abutment finger'for contacting the exterior lower face of the channel beneath the end of thelug precluding accidental separation of the hook and rail and permitting slidable adjustment of tlie'hook along'the' rail.

6. In a hook of the class described the combination of a body having at its top aforwardly extending suspending lug, a yieldable abutment finger extending substantially vertically of the free end of the lug and spaced therefrom sumciently to allow the bottom face of the lug and ledge between them, the finger resisting tilting of the body and lugv relative tosuch ledge.

7. In a hook of the class described the combination of a sheet metal hook body having a forwardly turned lug at its top, an integral hook member bent forwardly from one side of the body,

. said hook member having a 'perforatedshoulder atthe upper partof its juncture with the body, an abutment finger comprising a sheet metal bodyhaving parallel perforated sides and a rear portion slotted so that it may be mounted straddle wise of the shoulder, a pin extending through the perforations inthe sides of said abutment finger andthrough'said-rshoulder and a spring member extending through the hole in the shoulder and passing about the pin for pressing the body and having a free end normally disposed beneath and in spaced relation to. the end of the-supporting-lug, the end of 'saidfinger rigidly resistingv downward end thrust and being yieldable toward the body. under manually applied pressure on saidabutment finger. I p

9.. In a .display hook the combination with a body having a hook and ai'forwardly extending "thet'op end of the 'fingerto receive a supporting suspending lug thereon and a spring metal mem- 'ber secured intermediate its ends to said body and providingatv its top a rigid abutment and at its bottom a resilientfinger. I

' ELMER W. CHRISTY. 

